#118 Black & White Lookalike

I've adored this black & white floral fabric from Schumacher Pyne Hollyhock in Charcoal ever since I saw it in the office space featured in the May/June 2011 issue of Lonny Mag.  But the price tag is steep- $130 a yard, steep.  This type of luxury is so far outside of my price range I could only afford a swatch which doesn't do the pattern justice.  I've been on the lookout for lookalikes...

via Schumacher & Lonny

Saw this lovely print, but who knows where it originates. This can be the downside to pinterest- you see something so lovely, but you can never get to the source.

via Pinterest

Then low and behold, in a Facebook Ikea post, there it is.  It has the same feel of the Schumacher pattern! And at $30 for almost 5 yards of super wide (86") fabric, you can't get a better deal. I got a little excited and immediately imagined ripping the seams out of that duvet and turning it into curtains.

Alvine Kvist duvet

Ikea also carries another similar grayscale floral.

Rosmarie

I've got an Ikea trip in the works already, time to reserve the zipcar!

#116 Lavender Summer

Lavender seems to be popping up everywhere. Maybe it's the start of the summer bringing along lovely colors with it. This shade feels modern, but not so in your face like some other colors I have a penchant for (hello, neon yellow!). It's a perfect alternative to brights for your  outfit, nails or wall.  I'm sooo tempted to paint a lavender wall now.  I have a sickness and it revolves around wanting to paint everything, all the time.  


I hope everyone has a sweet summery weekend! 

via stylecaster

 via topshop & essie

via tales of endearment

shades of lavender you can find at Home Depot

lovely streetscape via princess michelle

#113 Springy Dreamy

Spring is the promise of summer that is to come. Each day gets a little warmer. A little closer to being shorts weather. And then you get a sweet taste of the most perfectly warm weather only to have it be 45 degrees and rainy the next day. I have to tell myself that it's ok and be sure to layer up while still celebrating spring with lovely pastels and pops of neon.

The only thing better than spring getting here is the return of the Dude from a month of travelling in Europe, passing ridiculously hard exams & homemade mocha frappuccinos.

Happy Spring!! Here's some of my favorite spring picks that you can wear right into summer.

citizens of humanity floral jeans via anthro / summer straw hat in papaya via j.crew / phospho necklace via bauble bar / mint candy apple polish via essie / ivory glam drops via bauble bar / rebecca minkoff sandals via shopbop

#111 Furniture Painting Daydreams

In my rebellious phase, I decided I was not going to be like my mother...I was going to paint!   At that time, my mother thought paint was the devil.  She refused to have any painted furniture or woodwork or walls in her house.  Only cherry wood & wallpaper was allowed.  What a funny teenager I was that this was the way I chose to rebel and since then I've become the one obsessed with wallpaper.  In those days, I daydreamed about painting & obsessively collected paint chips at the hardware store.  Then came the day I decided to paint an entire secondhand bedroom set.  It was the middle of the summer of '04 and I was armed with an orbital sander.  Lots of learning happened in those 4 pieces of furniture. 


Recently I've been dreaming about painting again.  Somewhere out there a piece of furniture was calling out to me for a makeover.  I found it in the basement of a pre-war building covered in dust & locked shut.  An early 1900's china cabinet... oh Craigslist, I love you.  I brought it home, picked the lock & cleaned it like crazy.  

oh so lovely looking grainy photo disguising all the dust & damage

lock-picking tools

After cleaning it, I sanded down all the nicked and rough areas & patched the fretwork.  Then I primed the whole thing & painted the inside a light grey to match the apartment walls.

damage repaired and getting ready for primer

primed...lots of fumes

Let me just warn you that I had to use some crazy primer (B-I-N primer- it works on any surface oil-based paint, stain, or latex) on this because I'm lazy and didn't want to do any more sanding or stripping.  The stuff smelled like I was swimming in a vat of alcohol fumes.  While in this vat of fumes I decided I wanted the color to be dramatic & I had some peachy-coral paint left over from another project.  When it was dry I realized I must have been high on some paint fumes. The color was Barbie Dream House pink.  Not quite the kind of drama I was going for...

pepto pink = not quite right

The great thing about paint-- I decided to paint over the pink. I chose a dark navy with polished nickel knobs.  Way classier, but still dramatic.  Perfection.

navy & knobs- all done!

#94 You Won't Be Seeing These for a While...

via {this is glamorous}

via coco+kelley

#85 FWIR: Part 4

Derek Lam

(a.k.a. My Hero-- because it's all so wearable and, well, that last white dress is one of the most beautifully simple things ever)

all photos via style.com

#78 Daydreams & Pickup Trucks

Looking back, I'd say I spent a large portion of my free time this summer daydreaming about apartments and being way to hot.  Now that I've had a taste of fall with temps in the 60s and cool breezes making jackets a necessity, I'm worried I didn't spend enough time outside... but then I went to Alabama for my birthday weekend & remembered what happens when I leave the air-conditioned heaven that is my bedroom when it's a million degrees outside: sweating...and bugs...yucky. 

photo via {this is glamorous}

 The other thing I was reminded of when going home was trucks.  I think I saw more trucks than cars.  My family has two trucks & two SUVs... oh yeah, and one car... but it's more for decoration (it doesn't run).  I kinda miss trucks and rolling the windows down and driving over curbs because- "It's ok, I'm in a truck!"  No need to lock the doors because there's nothing to steal.  Reminds me of high school and everybody's crappy--I mean super sweet cars. 

  photo via dance with voices

Missing Alabama already, and I just got back to New York.

#77 Summer Sunsets

I'm currently obsessed with sunsets.  Their magic is hard to fully describe with a photograph because the feeling you get of being a minuscule part of the universe when you look into the sky doesn't really come across.  I'm obsessed to a point where I want to try and paint an entire room the colors of the sky at dusk (or maybe start out with one wall).  Sunsets make me happy.  

Happy, happy, happy...

The sky from my new Brooklyn hood...

photos via oh joy! by Johnny Miller

 The sky from my old Manhattan hood...

#74 Apartment Inspiration To The Max

Get ready for an awesome inspiration overload for the new apartment!

Bedrooms:
    

photo via **

photo via apartment therapy 
 

photos above via {this is glamorous}

Living Room / Dressing Room / Office:
   

photos above via {this is glamorous}
  

photo via design*sponge

 

photo via **

** I'm being forgetful and unorganized and a bad blogger--I can't remember where I found this image.  If it's yours or you know where it's from please let me know so I can credit it!

#69 How to Survive While Being Homeless

1.  Breathe

2.  Make it work

3. Indulge in super girly clothing fantasies...

photos via {this is glamorous}

#67 Sweet Sweet Summer

It finally feels like the beginnings of summer outside.  Shades on, shorts on, hats on, hair up, looking cool.  Love it. 

photo via Refinery 29
 

photo via Late Afternoon
 

photo via Refinery 29

#66 Starboard Side

I keep on thinking about the future and it's complete mystery.  It seems like there is no way we can even know a smidgen about what will happen next or how to plan accordingly.  Some days you wonder how you could ever be unhappy again.  While the next day brings disappointment right back into your life, and it seems it will never end.  But, alas!  The very next day, chaos is resolved, and all is right with the world.  Some of us fare these changing winds better than others.  And I'm sure every now and then we all feel completely lost at sea, whether we admit it or not.  The good news?  We are all in the same boat and your crew is always looking out for you (I know that was a lot of nautical metaphors to swallow)... Jibe-ho!

photos by Amir Zaki via OhJoy!

These aren't boats exactly, but they do look like handy places to spend a night on shore and keep a lookout for pirates! 

#63 School's Out!

I'm FREE!  Freeeeeeeeeeee!  Even though I'm no longer in school myself, I moonlight as a tutor and let me tell you-- SCHOOL IS OUT.  It's summer time, finally!  Stressful finals are over and done with... life is good.  I'm yearning for a huge slumber party, like the ones you'd have on Friday nights with all your best friends present to make memories...and fools of yourselves.  

photo by Tim Macpherson

photo via Triflin Dictionary

photo via Triflin Dictionary

#48 I'm Bored

I'm daydreaming the days away... wishing I could make a fort, steal the fake skis from my parents once-existent Nordic Track, don a fur coat & gloves, and pretend to cross-country ski around the house and retreat into an igloo made of couch pillows taking my little sister with me, wrapped in blankets, to cuddle and give Eskimo kisses to.  Oh, to be a kid again...

photo by Tim McPherson =Amazing!

#35 Green Dreams

There are three holidays I would rather not celebrate in New York City, one of which is St. Patrick's Day.  It's really nothing against St. Patrick, it's more related to the ridiculous tourists and people that flood the city that make me feel more claustrophobic than sitting in the center seat on an airplane.  On my way to work this morning, the train was full of adolescents and tourists wearing all green making their way uptown for the parade.  Reading my book became a bit difficult with all the rowdiness.  No joke, one guy was doing flips on the grab bar in the center of the train.  I really could've used one of these:

Found these via art at heart available from Yuruliku.  Can you imagine a bookshelf of half finished books & flagged favorite quotes? 

Right now I would rather be enjoying some romantic peace and quiet to celebrate...

photo via Pedlars

photo via {this is glamorous}

Also, Mrs. Lilien has the best roundups, and her St. Patrick's Day edition is fabulous as always.  Check it out... I could really use a #10 right now.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

#32 A Good Reason for Math & Fashion to be Friends

You know those tables covered with t-shirts or sweaters in every color of the rainbow?  I love and hate those tables.  All the colors are so pretty together! Why do I have to chose just one?! (fyi-I usually do get more than one if there's a sale)  For the most part I love all colors equally.  A lucky few get special treatment depending on the time of year and if they are a shade of pink.  I always feel bad for the colors on clearance racks.  At one time, they were on the table with all the other colors and fit right into the rainbow.  But on their own, they are just sad... and probably not so flattering on most skin tones.

Well , I've discovered a way to have it all...

necklace via spinthread's etsy shop

Roxy Pier Sandals by Cynthia Rowley

One last photo for some color combo inspiration.  If pastels and jewel tones can be friends, why can't we all just get along?

photo via {a glamorous little side project}